


I've Got You

by Kenopebi



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Original Character(s), Slight OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-19 01:38:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4727927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenopebi/pseuds/Kenopebi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes our greatest phobias lend us the greatest strength.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fun project I've been working on the past couple of months. Finally uploading in lieu of Halloween approaching. Thanks for reading!

**10:47 pm**

I was drifting between sleep and consciousness watching reruns of “I Dream of Jeannie” in my apartment. I, along with over half the team, had opted to live off base during our stay in the mountains and wooded forests of North Carolina. There was a sawmill just out of Morganton that RED and BLU had begun to try and take over. It didn’t help since we arrived that the skies had been unforgiving and nearly drowned us all. Our Pyro and Medic had been the lucky ones though. They had scouted ahead first, being married and parents, and had somehow managed to score a beautiful home in the Great Smoky Mountains. They had offered a room to me but I had declined, really craving my own space again and kids were great and all but if it wasn’t mine then I really didn’t want to have to be up and about at all hours helping out with it. Plus, having my own apartment meant Snipes coming over whenever he wanted. Which was literally every night. He hardly even stayed in his van anymore aside from the over-nighters we sometimes endured at the base. The war was almost over and we had pretty much decided that neither of us were going anywhere when it ended. And sometimes it felt like the rest of the team had the same idea. Pyro had a hard time coming to battle but she was there when she could be. Doc and her had gotten married almost two years ago and had a baby girl about a year ago. The team had taken the child as their own and there wasn’t a soul on the team who wasn’t smitten with the kid. Not like I hadn’t been taken to the child the moment of conceivement. I mean, not the exact moment. That would have been weird. And Snipes probably wouldn’t have liked that too much. 

I sighed deeper into the warm fleece blankets on my beat-up forest green couch. The show had become almost hypnotic. Sleep wasn’t too far off. I probably should have gone to the base tonight. Solly and Jacques had called a meeting to go over the attack on the sawmill next week. We still had a couple more days of ceasefire til our next battle and I was taking a much needed break and getting some much needed rest. I laughed silently to myself. _“No dying anytime soon! The respawn is down for work for the next week or so!”_ Truckie had said enthusiastically as I had left the previous day. I reached down and pet Dora as she sprawled below the couch. Snipes should be home soon unless he decided to stay in his van. It was already almost 11 so I had begun to assume I wouldn’t be seeing him tonight. And with that thought, I finally fell to unconsciousness.

_ring ring. ring ring._

I emerged from my blanket nest and attempted to sit up, almost forgetting where I was. I jerked my head to the direction of the foreign noise, the tv a dull mumble in the otherwise silent apartment. Unable to reach the table lamp from my positioning, I fumbled my way out of the covers and let my eyes adjust to the dim pictures resonating from the tv.

_ring ring. ring ring._

Oh yeah. The phone. I glanced to the clock next to the couch, squinting in the darkened room. **2:54 am**. This felt urgent. I rarely got calls and when I did they were hardly ever good news. I sauntered up to the phone, a cramp creeping up my left thigh from my previous position on the couch. I snatched it from its cradle. 

“Heyo.”

“Scout. Scout, are you awake?” It was Pyro and she sounded exasperated. 

“Yeh. What’s wrong? You sound outta--”

“I need you to come over right now.”

“Uhhh. It’s like three in the morning” I mumbled out. I wasn’t really in the mood to be driving at this hour.

“No. Right now. Please.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper. She sounded….scared?

“Py --”

_*click*_

I stood there for a second, aware of time ticking past, contemplating calling the base. But she would have called them if it were something major, right? I slammed the phone to the hook and grabbed my brown leather jacket. I gave Dora a pat as I slipped some jeans on and laced my All-Stars up in record time. I grabbed my keys and dashed for the door, still contemplating calling the base and alerting Doc of a possible problem. This wasn’t like her at all. Pyro? Scared? I hadn’t heard fear in her voice since...well...it had been a very long time. A time that I didn’t care to think about. I dashed down the stairs and jumped into my car, kicking it into 3rd gear and hightailing it to their house about twenty minutes away.


	2. Chapter 2

I definitely should have called them. This was beyond creepy. I could bust skulls open and bathe in the blood of my enemies all day but when it came to anything paranormal or otherwise out of my control, I fell prey to severe panic attacks and illogical thinking. Their house was beautiful, no doubt about that. The windows stretched the length of the building, showing both stories to the wooded outside world. Any other normal day, it would be a welcome sight. Pyro toodling around the kitchen and baby Analeise crawling around the main foyer. Medic maybe sitting at the dining room table, reading the newspaper. I would have smiled at the thought had my current situation not been so irrevocably disturbing. All of the lights in the house were off. Not a single breath of life seemed to emanate from the gigantic structure. I parked my car fairly close to the door, already planning a run and gun. Fear was starting to creep into my veins, adrenaline swiftly making itself known throughout my system. 

As I approached the dark oak door, I made sure to keep my steps light and my breaths shallow. I reached the door and made to knock, quickly catching my default action mid-motion. The door was slightly ajar. I took a deep breath and quietly made my way inside, careful to place the door back into it’s original position to avoid suspicion. I stealthily stalked into the open living room, aware of the toys sprawled along the floor and hastily moved to the stairs to the left of the kitchen. There was still no noise coming from any part of the house and my uneasiness was quickly escalating. Then the thought occurred to me. The thought that should’ve stayed locked in my fucking head and not surfaced in this time of obvious importance. I swear to god if this was some kind of belated birthday surprise...I’ll murder everyone and their fucking mother. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, forcing rational thoughts. No. This was legit. Scarlet’s voice was too distraught. She hung up on me. I opened my eyes and breathed again. I hadn’t heard Ana cry or coo which was beginning to worry me. I swept into the kitchen and slowly opened a drawer, withdrawing what I hoped was a butcher’s knife. The lights still hadn’t came on and the house was still silent. I skirted my way back around the marble island and out of the kitchen, careful to avoid bumping into furniture and steps. I made my way silently up the darkened staircase, breath rattling in my adrenaline packed body and made for Ana’s room. I reached around the corner and felt for the light. I flipped it on and the room sprang into a blinding white light, accenting the pink and grey walls and bouncing off the hardwood floor. 

_Pst._

The fuck was that. I whipped around and held the blade out in front of me with a steady hand. I forced myself to remain calm. The last thing I needed was to stab Py or the baby. My eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of life.

_Pst._

Now would have been about the time I nope’d the hell outta there but the thought of a mother and child in danger greatly outweighed the amount of fear that ran through my veins. As my eyes drifted over the open door, the light bulb shattered - plunging me into darkness. I let out a shuddering breath.

“I’m not fucking playing your games. Where are they?” I growled at empty air, fear lacing every syllable. I had no idea who or what I was talking to. As I turned back to the room, a hand shot out from under the crib, lacing its fingers around my ankle. I shrieked and leapt from my position, slamming into the diaper table and knocking the bottles and wipes to the floor. The noise saturated into every square inch of silence in the house, deafening really. A pain shot up my ribcage, possibly a fracture. 

“SCOUT!! Why are you here??” Pyro whispered frantically as she scrambled from under the crib, Ana clutched to her chest with white-knuckles. I glanced up at her and moved to check on their condition. Shit. It hurt to breathe. Definitely a fracture or an actual break. Oh my god. Please don’t puncture a lung. 

“Are you okay? Why’d ya call? Why are all the lights off? Why is it so fucking creepy in here? What the fuck --” I was cut off mid sentence by a hand slapping over my mouth. She leaned in close and glared at me. 

“Are you ever not loud? I didn’t call you.” I widened my eyes in surprise at her. She didn’t call me? Of course, she did. I just spoke with her not thirty minutes ago. I gave her a questioning look and wrenched my mouth from her hand.

“Yeh ya did. I just talked to ya thirty minutes ago. Ya said come quick and hung up on me.” I near growled back to her. She opened her mouth to protest, paused, then slammed her hand back over my mouth.

“Listen,” she whispered. I closed my eyes and focused all my attention on my surroundings, listening to every spec of dust stick a landing and every breath from the three of us. I heard it begin to rain and thunder rolling miles away. I heard the refrigerator running in the downstairs kitchen. Then I heard something completely different. Almost like a rattling breath, deep and guttural. Not real. Not...human….I snapped my eyes open and whipped my head around, motioning Scarlet and Ana behind me, one hand grasping my side and the other holding the knife in front of me. My eyes were frantic as they tried to follow the source of the breathing but it seemed to resonate from everywhere. I glanced back to Scarlet. She had Ana held in both arms, her eyes wide in fright and chest heaving from sheer panic overcoming her. I ran to the door and closed it, propping the rocking chair under it, grabbed her hand and ran to the adjacent bathroom - slamming the door behind us and leaning against it. She stood in the middle of the floor, unsure of what to do, her eyes glazed over. 

“I need you to talk to me and fairly fucking quickly.” I normally tried to watch my choice words around the kid but all sense of formalities had flown out the window. “Speak. Why did I get a call from you? You sounded like you and everything. Have you called the base? Who have you pissed off? _Is this fuckin' paranormal shit 'cause I can’t handle that shit. Ya know I can’t_.” I practically spat at her. 

She flinched at my words, though more from her nerves being shot than being offended. “I don’t know.” She looked up at me. “I never called you. This started happening around midnight. I had gone to check on Ana upstairs cause I had heard a weird noise coming from the baby monitor and I was hoping Heinrich would make it in tonight. I went up to check, hoping it was just feedback or something but….” She looked down, her hold tightening around the bundle in her arms. She was shaking. She was terrified. “There was someone in the room with Ana.” 

I barely heard the last bit, she had all but breathed the sentence out. A chill ran up my spine and came to rest in my chest. “What do you mean? Is there someone in the house?” I whispered back, fear beginning to redistribute itself throughout my body.

I saw a tear fall from her downcast face. She was shaking so bad, I almost took the kid from her. But if she was Scarlet’s anchor, then that might not end well - especially in her current state of mind. 

“Something.” She whispered. 

I leaned closer to her, noses almost touching. “What did you say?”

“It’s...It’s not a some _one_ ….” She glanced up, eyes wide in fear. “It’s a some _thing_.” I stumbled back a bit, trying to process her words. Something in the house? Like animal or....

“It was standing next to the crib when I opened the door. Just a hulking black mass...I don’t know what it was. It was fairly dark in there save for the lights from the baby monitor and the night light. It hadn’t noticed me open the door but I screamed. And it just disappeared. Like it evaporated into thin air. All of the lights in the house went off and I couldn’t turn them back on and the phone lines were cut when I went to call Heinrich. It’s not good. It’s...it doesn’t _feel_ good, Scout.” Her voice had risen several octaves over the course of her story and she was practically wailing now. 

I felt the beginnings of a panic attack wash over me, my veins constricting, my chest heaving. My ribcage felt like agony coupled with the increase in breathing needed to maintain my composure. My vision swam. I can’t do this. I can do this. I can’t do this. I reached my hand out and laid it on the firebug’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help --” There was a scraping sound on the opposite side of the door. My breath caught in my throat and Scarlet jumped, shrieking. I pushed her into the shower with Ana and grabbed the knife from the granite counter. 

_knock knock knock_


	3. Chapter 3

I stayed silent as Scarlet cried, heart in my throat, clutching her bundle of blankets ever closer to her chest. I could feel the fear and the turmoil swelling in my chest, threatening to shut me down. I looked back to her. 

“Don’t move. If I scream run, you run. You don’t fuckin’ look back. You go find a fuckin’ phone and you call Heinrich. You get in my car and you fuckin’ drive. Do you understand?” I know she could tell I was serious. I handed her my keys. She opened her mouth to protest then glanced down at the child in her arms. She wasn’t one to run from a fight but she had someone else to worry about now. She closed her mouth, her lips set in a thin white line, and nodded at me, a precise movement, which meant she was thinking logically. The scraping sounded across the wooden door again and this time traveled the length of the wall. I gripped the doorknob in one hand, took a steadying breath, and yanked the door open to reveal….nothing. There was nothing there. I stood there in shock for a second, unsure of how to proceed. Taking a step into the nursery, I poked my head around the door - looking for the source of the foreign noise. There was nothing. Just darkness. I could feel indentations, scratches, on the door as I moved my hands in front of me, blinded by the darkness. I felt my way out of the door, keeping a hand on my ribs trying to ease the intense pain shooting through my bones. Dell’s voice made it’s way into my head. _“No dying anytime soon! The respawn is down for work for the next week or so!”_ I shivered and huffed angrily. I’m finally getting my shit together. A man who loves me. Best friend is married with kids. I have the best friends and team I could ever hope for and I have enough money to retire right at this moment. And I’m going to fucking die to a fucking poltergeist. 

I made my way out of the nursery and looked up and down the hallway - feeling way too vulnerable in my current situation. “Let’s go.” I whispered back to the bathroom. I looked back and she popped her head around the corner, coming up behind me slowly. “Follow me. Don’t lose sight ‘a me. Grab my shirt if you have to. Do ya understand?” She nodded slowly again - still in her shocked state of mind. I felt her hand grip on the bottom of my jacket. I started forward, knife at the ready position. We made our way to the stairs and I looked over to the clock on the stair’s uppermost landing. **3:50 am**. Heinrich definitely wasn’t coming home tonight and I assumed Mick never went over to my apartment. With that knowledge, I pushed forward. I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me and glanced back. It must have occurred to Scarlet as well that Heinrich wasn’t coming home. She was openly sobbing now, albeit very quietly. I reached back and grabbed her hand, letting the pain of my broken rib radiate through my core. 

We made our way down the staircase and back through the kitchen without any incident. We rounded the corner and stopped, listening for anything out of the ordinary. Once it was deemed safe enough, I trudged forward and continued on to the front door. I pushed Scarlet and Analeise ahead of me and shrugged my jacket off, leaving me with a cotton t-shirt in the dead of November in the middle of the mountains. I shivered as I wrapped it around the both of them and grabbed her hand again making towards where my car was sitting about ten yards away. 

I heard a shuffling behind me. I turned toward the noise. There was nothing there again. Maybe it was my mind dicking with me at this point. Hallucinations weren’t so farfetched at this moment with the amount of chemicals working overtime in my body. 

I turned back around and made to push Scarlet toward the car, the keys in her hand. Then as if someone turned nature’s sounds off, I heard one footstep - the clack of weight on wood echoing through the dense woods around me. I froze. Then another. And another. Until it was all but running at us. Scarlet shrieked and I pushed her right as something freezing and hard wrapped around my throat, pulling me down to the ground in what felt like a clothesline. Pain radiated through my neck and spine and ground out through my bones. “RUN!” I managed to choke out as the grip tightened, my vision darkening. I looked up to see the black mass Scarlet had mentioned earlier. I couldn’t see its face and I couldn’t see any special characteristics - it was just there. And absolutely terrifying. I heard gravel crunching as she ran, Ana in tow, and the sound of a door slamming. Fear settled in my stomach. She was leaving me. I told her to but the feeling was there and ever-present. I heard the engine roar to life and the singing of tires as she threw it in reverse and made to fly to the base. The being above me let out a low growl and I felt its hand twitch in agitation...if that’s what it was feeling. I felt a great pressure around my throat as it lifted me. My vision had gone dark and I could feel my brain shutting down. I felt myself be thrown and as my head collided with the solid oak front door, I lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys. I just really enjoy saying fuck. :3


	4. Chapter 4

“Ach. ‘Zat is the third time I have tried calling and it says the line is disconnected.” Heinrich slumped down in his chair, worry sweeping over his features. It was closing in on 7 AM. He had tried calling around midnight last night to let Scarlet know he wouldn’t be home til in the morning but had been met with the usual “ _This line has been disconnected_ " and a dial tone. Fear had started to settle in his gut around 3. He had taken about an hour’s nap and now sat with the rest of his team - save for Scout and Pyro - watching them eat breakfast.

“Here, mate. Lemme try and call Scout. Maybe she’s talked to ya lady.” Mick pushed past Heinrich, bacon in hand, and took the phone, dialing out the number to his lover’s apartment. He stood there, chewing his bacon thoughtfully, as he waited for an answer. His face screwed up into a thoughtful expression as he was met with an unanswered line and he redialed the number. That thoughtful expression turned into a slight worry as yet again the phone went unanswered. He hung the phone up and stuffed the rest of the bacon into his mouth before turning to Heinrich. “What time ya plan on leaving t’day?” 

“I ‘zink now would be a wise choice.” Heinrich turned to Jacques, his balaclava a deep red and his expression thoughtful as he read the morning paper. “Herr Spy. We are done for the day, ja? I would like to get home and check on my frau and kind.” 

Jacques looked up and nodded. “Oui. We are done for the week. Do not forget to be ‘ere starting Monday. We have a job to do, Doctor. Your Pyro and the Scout would need to be ‘ere as well.” His glance dropped back to the paper, his hand reaching for his tea.

“Mind if I take a ride with you, mate? Van needs work and I’d like to help ya out if I can, Doc.” Heinrich nodded and placed his plate on the counter to be washed. Mick followed suit, stuffing a biscuit into his mouth and grabbing his hat. Sniper felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew his woman could take care of herself - hell, she took care of just about everyone else at least once on the field - but he couldn’t help the surge of protectiveness that overcame him. It felt...wrong. All of it. The phone line, Scout not answering, the fact that both of them had decided to stay the night to avoid making the trip in the dark. Mick climbed into the Medic’s passenger seat of his BMW, careful to not dirty up the interior with his boots. He looked over to the driver. Heinrich had his jaw set and had a worried look in his eye. He must be feeling the same things Mick was at that moment. Maybe to a greater degree since the man had a wife and child. He turned back to the road that was beginning to stretch out ahead of them, rain beating against the windshield. This feeling wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

***********

“Wake up.” Mick groaned and turned his head. He must have fallen asleep without realizing it. “Wake up, _dummkopf_!” Heinrich slapped his chest as he groaned again.

“Wot the hell, mate?” He groaned as removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Didn’t ya mum ever teach ya to not --” 

Heinrich shushed him and pointed straight ahead. Mick noticed that they weren’t moving. They were in fact parked on the shoulder of the highway - trees stretching as far as the eye could see. He readjusted his glasses and looked to where Heinrich’s long finger pointed - directly at the steel gray ‘68 Camaro sitting on the other side of the road, the driver door ajar. Mick’s breath caught in his throat and he snatched at the door handle, anxious to escape the metal prison. He slammed his hat on his head as he sprinted across the road, Heinrich hot on his heels. He came to a stop just in front of the vehicle, eyes widening. Something had happened, that much was clear. But what was the question. He reached the driver side door and leaned in to get a better look. The leather seat had been ripped to shreds and the glass to the door had been shattered. Mick let out a low growl, immediately trying to find anything out of the ordinary that he could track. There were a couple specs of blood on the windshield and an obvious sign of a struggle. Heinrich had opened the passenger side door and begun to dig around, looking for anything that might help the search. Mick’s chest tightened. Respawn was down for maintenance and if anything happened to her....He took a deep steadying breath. He had left his rifle and his shiv back at the base and Heinrich had foregone bringing the medi-gun with him. They had plenty to work with though. They were strong, muscular men. A force to be reckoned with. Heinrich looked over at Mick as he straightened up, his breath coming out in short tuffs in the cold mountain air. 

“Let’s check in the woods, Herr Sniper. There is no telling how long it has been sitting here and time is of the essence.” He nodded in ascent and skirted around the car, dropping off the shoulder and into the cool, wet grass. They made their way down the bank and into the wall of trees - somewhat sheltered from the growing storm around them. 

Mick was tracking so Heinrich tried to stay back and look for anything out of the ordinary the bushman might miss. Not that he would but Heinrich felt helpless. This was somewhat out of his element but the uneasy feeling that had plagued him since last night had only doubled in his gut. He attempted to push his worry to the side and focus on the problem in front of them. 

They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when they came upon an old shed. The door was ajar and the mud around the entrance had been heavily mussed. The duo jogged up to the door, careful to avoid the puddle of mud. Mick pulled the door open as Heinrich stepped in. The shed was dilapidated and choked with dust and dirt. Water leaked from the ceilings and ran in small rivulets down the walls and into the stone foundation. 

“Hello!” Heinrich called out. The marksman walked forward and pushed himself through a hole of a rotting door, Heinrich closely following suit. There was the groaning of a board and the slap of water as the taller one stepped through, ducking in just enough time to avoid being hit in the head with a rotten plank.

“Wot the bloody hell?” Sniper whirled around and caught the plank as a feeble attempt was made to take out the other. He wrenched it from its owner and raised it - preparing to deliver judgement upon his attacker.

“WAIT!” Medic pushed past as the sound of a baby crying filled the room and a soft, feminine gasp came from the assailant. He rushed over and took the woman in his arms, leaning his head down as he gripped her face in his hands. “SCARLET! _Mein gott_. What are you doing out here?! What has happened?” Pyro just stared with a shocked expression at the men, unable to process words and their unexpected arrival. Mick looked past them at the bundle of blankets lying on an old rotting board. A brown leather jacket lay over it. 

“Pyro. Darl. I need ya ta tell me where Scout is.” Sniper had grabbed the child and jacket and tucked them against his chest, afraid the girl would get cold without the feel of her mother. Heinrich and Mick stood at arm’s length from her and stared. At the mention of Scout, she began to cry - a look of shocked realization contorting her features. They both stood there stunned. Neither of them had ever seen the woman cry. Not when faced with death and not during their wedding and not even during childbirth. Heinrich reached forward and took her in his arms, allowing her to cry til she could cry no longer. There was a mumbling against his chest. 

“We can not hear you, mein liebe. Where is Scout?” Mick passed the child to Heinrich and leaned in closer to hear the woman’s soft whimperings.

“ _I left her behind_.” Sniper’s heart stopped and his vision blurred. The storm was increasingly loud on the roof and the amount of fear that swept over him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Left her where? What happened? Why is her car sitting on the side of the road and looking like an animal attacked it? Questions ricocheted through his mind, none of them answered. 

“Left her where?” He managed to growl out. Heinrich looked over at him, a stricken expression on his face.

“At our house. There was something in the house last night and it must have followed me but Scout wasn’t anywhere to be found when it finally caught up to me on the road and it attacked the car but I got out and I ran into the woods because I didn’t know if I could make it back to the base!” Heinrich grabbed the wailing woman and flung her to his chest, the crying baby trying to find solace between her distraught parents.

“Let us go then, Herr Mundy. We do not have time to waste.” He said through clenched teeth. They were mad at themselves. None of this would have happened had they just came home. Or maybe it would have, but they would have fixed it. He was a doctor after all. And Mick was a killer, pure and simple. They left as they came, into the raging storm and onto the house in question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Also, the title was bothering the absolute shit out of me so I changed it. *shrug*


	5. Chapter 5

They arrived thirty minutes later. Mick had driven the Camaro back in order to avoid it being stolen, towed and the like. Heinrich and Scarlet had a silent trip back. Heinrich constantly glancing over to check on his little family and knowing that when they reached their destination, it wouldn’t be over. Heinrich made a mental note to call the others when they got home to alert them of what’s happened if the lines were up and running. They would want in on the action.

Mick pulled the Camaro up behind Heinrich’s BMW, careful to allow room to maneuver out should the need arise. The sun made no motions to come out as the storm raged overhead, casting them in near darkness as lightning lit the sky. Heinrich ordered Scarlet and Ana to stay in the car - in case of trouble, it would be something else to worry about. The two men glanced at each other as they exited their vehicles and made their way through the muddied gravel up to the porch. The door was open and cracked through the middle, a thin line of blood being pulled downward. Sniper ran his hand over the crack, trying to imagine how such an interesting fault happened to make its way over the thick wood; Heinrich stepped through the door. All of the lights in the house were on. The tv was on. Everything save for the kitchen appliances seemed to radiate with energy. Mick followed suit, stepping over the threshold and into the vibrant, airy room. 

“Scout?” Heinrich called out, voice slightly trembling under his tough exterior. The moment he spoke, it was as if the house shut down. All of the lights turned off. The tv shut itself down. They were plunged into complete darkness, save for the lightning that played through the giant windows every few seconds. A soft growling could be faintly heard in the distance. Heinrich and Mick fell into a defensive position, both feeling naked without their respective weapons. Heinrich slowly reached behind the bushman and into the closet to their left. He grabbed a fireman’s axe and handed it to him. Heinrich reached back into the closet and procured a hacksaw. It would have to suffice. 

“SCOUT!” Mick called out. He was done. This was too much. She had to be here somewhere and he wasn’t wasting anymore time dicking around. “Scout! Where are ya, love?”   
They were met with silence save for the rain pattering on the windows all around them. The growling had stopped, the house uncomfortably quiet. The two men pushed forward ready to defend the home and their women. 

***

“Doc?” I managed to whisper. Thinking was something I wasn’t interested in doing at the moment. My head....It felt broken. I tried to send a message to my arm - “Touch my head, Arm” - to no avail. Oh my god. I’m paralyzed. The fear shot through my body, preventing any kind of rational thinking. I rolled my head, the cool damp wall welcoming to the pounding pain rattling my senses. After a moment’s pause to calm down and realize that I was actually in pain, I wiggled my toes. I rolled my ankle. I flexed my calf muscles. Okay. Not paralyzed. Thank god. I gotta get up. That sounded like Heinrich earlier. The pain had not subsided and made no motion to from the looks of it but if people were here, they could help. Especially the doc. 

I gripped the wall to my right, arms finally somewhat cooperating, and made to lift myself up from the ground. Pain blinded me. Coughing overtook my frame and I felt something warm and thick drip from my lips. I raised a hand to my mouth and brought it closer. Blood. The rib or ribs that had broken had punctured my lung after all. There was no telling how much blood had filled my lungs by this point and the damage my head had undergone was probably going to leave lasting damage. I managed an upright position, leaning heavily on the railing I had used to stand, my breathing becoming more and more strained with each passing minute. 

“Heinrich?” I croaked out again. My throat had almost swollen shut presumably from the grip the demon had taken before I blacked out. They weren’t going to hear me down here. I looked around almost certain I was in the basement. Of course I was. It was a fucking monster and shit. I tried not to let fear take over but in the end it got the better of me. My legs began shaking, unsteady, and my heart threatened to pump right out of my chest. Adrenaline would be a good aphrodisiac to the pain overtaking my body. I allowed the chemical to rush through my system - fully saturating my being - ensuring I could actually move. I took a steadying breath. I released the railing and half-shuffled, half-limped to the staircase banister, gripping with whitened palms at the mahogany. I began pulling myself up the stairs, aware of my surroundings and the threat of falling - or being pulled - back onto the basement floor. I managed to reach the door somehow just barely teetering on the edge of the top step when I pushed the door open. It was pitch black in this part of the house as well and I carefully stepped up to the remaining step. As I did, a force hit me square in the chest, knocking the breath out of me. I managed to grip the door frame and fling myself to the side as the creature pushed against me - no doubt trying to force me back into its makeshift prison. As I flung myself, it must have been taken by surprise and continued down the stairs resulting in a loud clanging of a toolbox being knocked over. There was a scrambling noise and a wailing growl as I pushed myself out of the doorway and leant into the door itself, slamming it close as the scurrying on the steps became almost deafening. As the door slammed and the creature slammed against the solid oak, I felt a pair of hands grip around my torso. I screamed and flung myself backwards, feet colliding with the wooden door and pushing. The assailant was taken by surprise and knocked into the pictures along the hallway’s wall. The resulting crash and fall resulted in me hunched over, coughing up blood. Trying to regain consciousness, I crawled forward - trying to push past the dark mass of limbs that threatened my life.

“SCOUT, WAIT!” I stopped as Mick’s voice registered. I glanced up from my spot amid broken glass and slick hardwood to see my savior hovering over me. I looked over to the body I had thrown against the wall to see Heinrich standing up and dusting himself of debris. 

"Snipes...?" He rushed forward, his hands immediately seeking out the rivulets of blood that streamed down my face. With a low growl, he picked me up and made for the door, Heinrich following closely with saw in hand. However, as we were passing through the blackened kitchen, a loud bang could be heard from the hallway and a loud screech resonated through the open home. 

"RUN!" 

I couldn't see much through the darkness and my ever-dimming vision but I could swear on my grave that as I looked back, the entity looked almost forlorn. But that couldn't be true. 

Sniper ran out the door and across the porch to the waiting vehicles, Heinrich slamming the door behind him. We knew a door of all things couldn't keep something of this magnitude contained. However, it didn't try to pursue as we exited the house. A loud wail echoed through the house, across the landscape and in the trees - seemingly everywhere all at once. With a snarl and a bang, it quieted down as Heinrich and Mick peeled out of the driveway and we made our way back to base at 30 miles over the speed limit.


End file.
